The Relationships between Recreational Drug Abuse and School Records among Korean Adolescents

Background: Recreational drug abuse control has long been a major goal of global health and social welfare organizations. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the possible associations between recreational drug abuse and Korean adolescents' school records. Methods: In 2012, 74,186 seventh- through twelfth-grade students participated in the Eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Associations between recreational drug abuse and school records were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for the covariates of age, body mass index, frequency of smoking, frequency of alcohol consumption, frequency of breakfast consumption, parents' educational levels, family economic status, mental stress, physical activity frequency, and participation in muscular strength exercises. Results: The odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) for males who had used or were using recreational drugs and who had achieved average or higher than average school achievement according to their records, compared to males who had never used recreational drugs, were as follows: "almost never," 1.026 (0.777-1.354; p = 0.858); "past use but no current use," 0.990 (0.568-1.727; p = 0.972); and "currently using," 0.732 (0.424-1.263; p = 0.262). The odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) for females were as follows: "almost never," 0.804 (0.560-1.153; p = 0.235); "past use but no current use," 0.771 (0.448-1.326; p = 0.347); and "currently using," 0.932 (0.276-3.148; p = 0.910). Conclusions: Recreational drug abuse was associated neither positively nor negatively with Korean adolescents' school records.